Pope to Pray for Terrorists during visit to Ground Zero

Pope Benedict will pray for terrorists around the world at Ground Zero during his trip to the US next week, asking them to convert to catholicism:

The Pope will pray for the redemption of Islamic terrorists when he visits the site of the September 11 attacks in New York next week.

The pontiff will call for terrorists to convert to Christianity, saying: "Turn to Your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. "God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance".

The prayer is likely to further incense the Muslim world, which has already attacked the Pope for publicly converting Magdi Allam, a journalist and one of Italy's most high-profile Muslims, at Easter.

This fellow Benedict has an interesting attitude toward Islam. His brilliant speech last year in which he answered the question of how evil like terrorism could exist in a world made by a perfect God was an extraordinary intellectual dissertation on man and his relationship with God as seen from a Christian perspective. To illustrate the point, he used words spoken by a 12th century Muslim to a Christian about forced conversion - a hot button issue with Muslims - which set off riots around the world thus proving the Pope's point.

Then there was the public conversion of the Italian journalist - on Easter Sunday no less. It appears that the pope is trying to tweak the Islamists, getting them to show how unreasonable and hateful they are contrasting his own reasonableness to make the point that the Islamists should not be taken seriously either spiritually or intellectually.

At least that's my take on it. He can't be deliberately provocative because he wants to rub Muslim's noses in it. Hence, he offers parables and examples instead.

I like the guy. He may be the smartest pope in a century and seems to be warming to the more public aspect of his job.

One thing though - he will stop in Washington before heading to New York and has apparently decided to skip a state dinner in his honor due to the Iraq War. Not too many heads of state have embarrassed a President of the United States like that.